Where "What Do You Think This Is, Bush Week?" Comes From
"Bush Week" was a real event proposed for Sydney in 1918 — the Sydney Stock and Station Journal records the earliest documented use of the term in that year. The event was intended to bring country produce and bush culture to the city, but it carried an unspoken assumption that visitors from the country would be naive and easily impressed. The bush people themselves saw through this, boycotted the event, and the following year it was renamed "Country Week." The phrase "what do you think this is, bush week?" was first recorded as a standalone expression by Sid Baker in 1949.
The phrase is a sharp, indignant rejection of being treated like a naive outsider — a way of saying "do you think I'm stupid?" It's usually deployed in response to an unfair price, an obvious excuse, or a transparent attempt to take advantage. The irony is that a phrase originally used to mock country people for being credulous ended up being adopted as a defiant assertion by anyone who felt they were being underestimated.
Source: wordhistories.net — "'what do you think this is, bush week?': meaning and origin"
"Ten dollars for a coffee? What do you think this is, bush week?"
How Aussies Actually Use It
The phrase is a sharp, indignant way of saying "do you think I'm stupid?" — usually aimed at an unfair price, an obvious excuse, or a blatant attempt to take advantage.
It's often shortened simply to "bush week?" on its own, with the same meaning understood from tone alone.
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